Crimea crisis haunted by ghosts of bungled World War I diplomacy

War was coming to Europe and the
French president, Raymond Poincare, was literally at sea.

Poincare’s trip across the Baltic Sea to St. Petersburg to
shore up France’s alliance with Russia in July 1914 cut him off
from outside contact for days, adding one more layer of
uncertainty to the chaotic, ultimately failed diplomacy that
ended in World War I.

A century later, as Russian President Vladimir Putin
menaces Ukraine, the world hasn’t banished the risks of the
miscommunications, clumsy judgments and botched intelligence
that blindsided Europe in 1914, said Max Hastings, a British
military historian....